US2724396A - Tilting pole umbrella - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 22, 1955 PERElRA 2,724,396

TILTING POLE UMBRELLA Filed March 10, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l 11v 1 zziv'mle.

HUMBE/FTO PEPE/RA BY ATTOR NEY.

Nov. 22, 1955 H. PEREIRA 2,724,396

TILTING POLE UMBRELLA Filed March 10, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 :7 8. 296 l j INVEN'I'OR. HUMBE/PTU PEfiE/Rfl 106 BY a Wm Arm/ems m hcc TILTING PGLE unrnnnrra Humberto Pereira, Essex, Conn, assignor to Alfred G.

Cohen and Paul Weiss, both of Flushing, hi. it.

Application March 16), E953, denial his. Si their;

Claims. (Cl. 135-46) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in umbrellas, and has especial reference to improvements in those kinds. of umbrellas known as garden or beach umbrellas. These umbrellas are generally constructed with upper and lower sections, and the upper section which supports the umbrella frame and fabric can be tilted with respect to the lower section which is inserted into the ground or through a centerhole in a lawn table as is well known.

Considerable ditliculty is experienced for a woman to i open these large umbrellas, and especially to adjust the upper section with respect to the lower when the umbrella is opened, and to realign the tilted section, when desired, with the lower section.

it is, therefore, an object of the inventionto provide simple and efficient constructions whereby the umbrella can be easily tilted into angular position and then easily and quickly restored to upright position by a mere pull on the edge of the opened umbrella.

A further obiect is to provide a construction and arrangement of parts which is simple, efficient, rugged, and

durable for long extended use.

Further and more specific objects, features and advantages will appear from a consideration of the specification hereinafter set forth especially when taken in con nection with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a present preferred form which the invention may assurne and which forms part of the specification.

. in brief and general terms, the invention includes an umbrella stick of two sections, an upper and a lower. The

. lower stick is stuck into the ground or otherwise fastened in position relatively fixed, except for turning movement,

t and theupper section is tiltable with respect to the lower ment to latched position is achieved merely by pulling lightly on the edge of the opencdumbrella canopy, pref-- erably on a rib thereof. When it is desired to restore the upper section to aligned relation with the lower section, it is merely necessary to pull down on the edge fabric frame and then let it go whereupon the upper section will spring back into alignment. This is due to the factthat when it is thus given this extra movement, one

part of the latch mechanism isbrought into adjacency with a magnet or other temporary holding means which holds it, while a second part or element is being disconnected therefrom whereupon the spring willreturn the sections to normal relation More particularly, a pair of bracket plates is lined to the upper section and intermediately pivoted to the lower section with the free ends bearing between them stud which rides in a bayonet slot on a latch yolre pivoted to the lower section so that when the sections are disaligned,

i United States Patent Patented Nov. 22, 1955 the stud will latch in the usual manner in the bayonet slot against the resistance of a spring which is connected be tween the two sections and tends to urge them into aligned relation at all times. With the parts thus latched, it is merely necessary to give the umbrella fabric or the end of one of the ribs a slight pull which will swing the umbrella a bit further in the direction of tilt, and thus bring the latch yoke into the sphere of influence of an adjacent magnet or other temporary holding means so that the yoke is held by the magnet or said other means while the spring forces the stud out of the notch and returns the parts to normal relation. With the stud sliding back in the slot to normal position, it will earn the yoke into a pivotal movement which will draw it away from the influence of the magnet or other holding means, and thus the latch yoke is also restored to normal. The magnet may be disposed above or to one side of the latch plate as shown in the drawings, and is constructed to be adjusted so that it will lie closer to the adjacent surface of a plate on the latch yolte which it may attract when the two are brought close enough together.

The present preferred form which the invention may as some is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of the sections near their ad jacent ends, showing them in aligned relation.

Fig.2 is a similar view showing them in their adjusted disaligned or angular relation.

Fig. 2a is a similar view but showing the upper section in a further tilted position preparatory to restoring the sections to their aligned relation.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the parts as viewed from the right in Fig. 1.

4 is a side elevation showing the parts with the canopy in tilted relation and the loose rib-holding sleeve or follower.

Fig. 5 is a partial elevation showing the umbrella canopy opened in its normal and in its tilted positions.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation showing as a modification, the magnet holding means mounted against the lower section, and to one side of the latch plate.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevation showing, as a further modification, the use of a spring holding means.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary elevation showing a modified form of follower.

Referring now merely to the particular forms of the invention shown in the drawings, there are two sections of the umbrella support, a lower section Iltl adapted to be tired in the ground or through the top of a lawn table in the usual manner, and an upper section 11. adapted to be disposed in alignment with or at an angle to the lower section, as may be desired. A bracket plate 12 is intermediately pivoted at 13 on each side of the upper end of the lower section lit and each has a lower free end 14 with a stud i5 laterally er.- tending between them. The upper end or each plate l2 l5 fixed at two points 16 and 17 to the lower end of section ll. A spring-1S of U shape is wrapped around the lower section and the pivot point fill, and its upper ends hooked around the fixed points 17 and the tendency of this spring is to resist any movement of the upper section 11' lfromits normal aligned position relative to the lower section.

The stud on plate 12 rides in a bayonet slot 19 in a latch yoke 24) pivoted at points 21 on each side of the section Ml below the pivot point 13. This yoke is U- shaped and has a flat upper base surface 22 of metal. The notch 23 of the bayonet slot receives the stud 15 when the section 11 is tilted out of alignment, as shown in Fig. 2, against the resistance of spring 21.8. This tilting n'rovement is effected by grasping the end of one of the ribs of the opened umbrellaand pulling it downward;

this can be done easily from the side thereof. Since the yoke 20 is loosely pivoted, as the stud moves up in its slot, and reaches the notch 23, the yoke 20 will swing in a clockwise direction by gravity, and the spring 18 will tend to move the stud downward to press it against the bottom of the notch 23 and hold the parts in this latched relation.

On a supporting bracket 24 attached to the upper side of the section is a permanent magnet 25 adjustable thereon by means of adjustment screw 26. The lower face of the magnet is disposed somewhat adjacent the upper'surface 22 of the latch yoke but not normally close enough to attract it. However, if someone grips the edge of the umbrella canopy and pulls down on it to tilt it to a greater degree than it is already tilted, this will swing the latch yoke in a counter-clockwise direction to bring its surface 22 closer to the magnet so that it will be magnetically held there. In this position, the stud is no longer in the notch 23 and by the action of spring 18 will be free to move down the slot 19 to return section 11 to normal aligned relation. At the same time this downward movement of the stud will cam the latch plate to the right and force it away from the attractive zone of the magnet and thus restore the latch plate 20 to normal position.

In Figs. 4 and 6, the magnet 25a is shown disposed on the side wall of the lower section 10 and the attracted surface 22a of the latch yoke is shown at the side thereof, which somewhat simplifies the construction thereof. The ribs 27 of the umbrella are held in the usual manner to the upper end of a holding sleeve or follower 28 which is slid along the section 10 to open and close the umbrella (see Fig. 4). When the canopy is tilted, the sleeve as shown in Fig. 4 is tilted, and restson the usual spring releasing latch member 29. However, even in its untilted position, the holding sleeve 28 has an inner diameter which is not quite as great as the distance a indi- I cated on Fig. 4 between the outer edge of the spring latch member 29 and the right wall of section 10. Therefore, it will not slip down over the spring latch member 29 even in untilted position unless the spring latch member is pressed inwardly in the usual manner.

A further modification of the temporary holding means is clearly shown in Fig. 7 wherein a spring is substituted for the permanent magnets heretofore described for the purpose of temporarily retaining the yoke 20b until stud b is free of notch 23b, when the canopy is given the additional pull heretofore described, to restore the upper and lower sections 11b and 10b respectively, to aligned relation. The fiat spring clip 35 is secured as by screws 36 to the lower section 10b, the clip having a V-shaped protuberance 37 to engage with the groove 38 in the upper end 22b of the yoke. In all other respects, the general construction is similar to that described with relation to Figs. 1 to 6. The parts 12b, 13b, 14b, 15b, 16b, 17b, 18b, 19b, 20b, 21b are all similar to the respectively numbered equivalent parts in Figs. 1 to 6.

In Fig. 8 there is shown a modified form of follower wherein the inside diameter of the collar 30 is not much greater than the diameter of the lower section 10c. In this instance a rib-holding ring 31 is pivotally carried by the upper end of the collar 30 as at 32. The inside diameter ring 31 is considerably greater than the diameter of lower section 100 to permit the ring to tilt with respect to the lower section, as seen in broken lines in Fig. 8.

In accordance with the construction and operation thus described, it will be seen that when the sections are aligned and the umbrella is opened, it is merely necessary to grasp the edge of the umbrella canopy to tilt it, and the stud rides up in the bayonet slot and latches automatically in the notch therein, and is held there by the pressure of the spring 18 until a further pull on the canopy moves the bracket plate 12 more to the left and lifts the latch plate to be magnetically or otherwise temporarily held until the stud is free of the notch, to slide down the slot under the influence of the spring, thus restoring the sections to aligned relation and at the same time freeing the latch plate from the magnetic influence.

While I have shown present preferred forms of the invention, it is not to be limited to such forms and details since many modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest aspects. Hence I do not wish to be limited to the particular forms and details shown except insofar as they be limited by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, a pair of sections normally axially aligned and one angularly adjustable with respect to the other, a bracket plate fixed at one end to the angularly adjustable section and intermediately pivoted to the other sectiomspring means associated with the bracket plate and extending between the sections and tending to urge the sections to aligned relation, latching means associated with the free end of the bracket plate and adapted to latch the sections in their disaligned relation, said sections adapted to be moved, against the resistance of the spring beyond their normal disaligned relation, means to hold the latch means when the sections are thus moved whereby the bracket plate is released from the latching means to return the sections to normal aligned relation under the urgency of the spring.

2. In a device of the class described, a pair of sections normally axially aligned and one angularly adjustable with respect to the other, spring means tending to hold the sections in aligned position, a bracket plate connected at one end to the angularly adjustable section and inter mediately pivoted to the other section and having a free end with a stud thereon, a latch yoke pivoted 'to the other sectionat one end and having a bayonet slot in which said stud rides, the sections being maintained in adjusted angular relation when the stud is disposed in the bayonet notch, magnetic means disposed adjacent the latch yoke when the sections are disaligned, and adapted to magnetically hold the latch when the sections are moved beyond the normal adjusted angular position whereby the stud is released from the bayonet notch, the spring means returning the parts to normal aligned position when the stud is thus released.

3. In a device of the class described, a pair of sections normally axially aligned and one angularly adjustable with respect to the other, spring means tending to hold the sections in aligned position, a bracket plate connected at one end to the angularly adjustable section and intermediately pivoted to the other section and having a free end with a stud thereon, a latch yoke pivoted to theother section at one end and having a bayonet slot in which said stud rides, the sections being maintained in adjusted angular relation when the stud is disposed in the bayonet notch, magnetic means disposed adjacent the latch yoke when the sections are disaligned, and adapted to. magnetically hold the latch when the sections are moved beyond the normal adjusted angular position whereby the stud is released from the bayonet notch, the spring means returning the parts to normal aligned position when the stud is thus released, the stud being so disposed in the slot as to kick the latch plate away from the magnet as the parts are returning to normal aligned relation.

4. In a device of the class described, an upper and a lower section, the upper section being adjustable with re spect to the lower section, a bracket plate fixed at one end to the upper section and intermediately pivoted to the lower section and having a studded free end, a spring associated between the sections and urging the upper section into alignment with the lower section, a latch yoke pivoted to the lower section and having a bayonet slot therein within which the stud on the bracket rides, the upper section being manually movable to an angular relation with respect to the lower section against the resistance of the spring until the stud rides into the bayonet iiotch, magnetic means adjacent the latch yoke when the parts are in latched position, the upper section being movable beyond the latched position to lift the latch plate within the sphere of influence of the magnet which then holds the latch yoke While the spring moves the stud out of the notch and into the slot to return the upper section to alignment with the lower section, and while them in angular relation when they are so disposed, magnetic means to hold the latch means in retracted position when it is moved close to the magnet whereby the spring means can move the sections to normal position free from the latch means and cooperating means associated with the sections and the latch means to also remove the latch means from the magnetic influence when the sections are moved to alignment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,433,524 Banks Oct. 31, 1922

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