SECURING DEVICE FOR RUNNER OF UMBRELLA

Abstract

An umbrella includes a shaft including multiple inner tubes and an outer tube in which the multiple inner tubes are retractably received. One of the inner tubes that has a smallest diameter is connected to a cap on the top end of the shaft. A runner is movably mounted to the shaft and includes a release part. Multiple ribs are pivotably connected to the cap. Multiple stretchers are pivotably connected between the ribs and the runner. A gore is mounted to the ribs. A seat is mounted to the outer tube and includes a resilient protrusion protruding laterally therefrom. The resilient protrusion of the seat is engaged with the release part of the runner when the runner is moved to an umbrella-opening position to open the umbrella.

Claims

1. An umbrella comprising: a shaft including multiple inner tubes and an outer tube in which the multiple inner tubes are retractably received, one of the inner tubes having the smallest diameter being connected to a cap which is located at a top end of the shaft, a runner movably mounted to the shaft, multiple ribs pivotably connected to the cap, multiple stretchers pivotably connected between the ribs and the runner, a gore mounted to the ribs, and a seat mounted to the outer tube and including a passage through which the outer tube extends, the seat having a resilient protrusion protruding laterally therefrom, the runner including a release part, the resilient protrusion being engaged with the release part when the runner is moved to an umbrella-opening position to open the umbrella.

2. The umbrella as claimed in claim 1, wherein the release part is a pressing plate or a hole.

3. The umbrella as claimed in claim 1, wherein the seat includes a notch, the outer tube includes a boss which is engaged with the notch when the outer tube is connected to the seat.

4. The umbrella as claimed in claim 1, wherein the runner includes an extension section which has the release part formed thereto, the resilient protrusion is disengaged from the release part when pressing the release part.

5. The umbrella as claimed in claim 4, wherein a sleeve is movably mounted to the extension section, the sleeve includes a recess defined in an inner periphery thereof and the release part is accommodated in the recess when opening the umbrella, the sleeve includes an inclined face formed at an inner top of the recess, when moving the runner away from the cap, the inclined face pushes the release part inward.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 is an exploded view to show the seat, the shaft, and the runner of the securing device of the umbrella of the present invention;

[0013] FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view to show the securing device of the present invention when the umbrella is opened;

[0014] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view to show the securing device of the present invention when the umbrella is closed;

[0015] FIG. 4 is an exploded view to show a second embodiment of the securing device of the umbrella of the present invention;

[0016] FIG. 5 is a perspective view to show the second embodiment of the securing device of the umbrella of the present invention;

[0017] FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view to show the second embodiment of the securing device of the present invention when the umbrella is opened, and

[0018] FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view to show the second embodiment of the securing device of the present invention when the umbrella is closed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0019] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the umbrella of the present invention comprises a shaft 2, a cap 3, a runner 4, multiple ribs 5, multiple stretchers 50 and a gore 6. The shaft 2 includes multiple inner tubes 21 and an outer tube 22 in which the multiple inner tubes 21 are retractably received. One of the inner tubes 21 that has the smallest diameter is connected to the cap 3 on the top end of the shaft 2. The outer tube 22 is located at the handle of the umbrella. The runner 4 is movably mounted to the shaft 2. The multiple ribs 5 are pivotably connected to the cap 3. The multiple stretchers 50 are pivotably connected between the ribs 5 and the runner 4, and the gore 6 is mounted to the ribs 5. A seat 1 is mounted to the outer tube 22 and includes a passage 12 through which the outer tube 22 extends. The seat 1 includes a resilient protrusion 11 which integrally protrudes laterally from the seat 1.

[0020] The runner 4 includes a release part 41. The resilient protrusion 11 is engaged with the release part 41 when the runner 4 is moved to the umbrella-opening position to open the umbrella. In this embodiment, the release part 41 is a pressing plate or a hole, such that the resilient protrusion 11 is engaged with the release part 41. When the runner 4 is moved to the umbrella-opening position, the resilient protrusion 11 protruding from the seat 1 is engaged with the release part 41, such that the runner 4 is stably positioned while the umbrella is in the opened status.

[0021] The runner 4 further includes an extension section 42 which has the release part 41 formed thereto so as to be cooperated with the resilient protrusion 11 of the seat 1. When pressing the release part 41, the resilient protrusion 11 is disengaged from the release part 41. Therefore, when opening the umbrella, the runner 4 is moved to the umbrella-opening position, and the resilient protrusion 11 is engaged with the release part 41 of the runner 4 to position the runner 4 at the opened status. When folding the umbrella, the release part 41 is pressed to retract the resilient protrusion 11, the runner 4 is able to move away from the cap 3 to fold the umbrella as shown in FIG. 3.

[0022] In this embodiment, the seat 1 includes a notch 13, and the outer tube 22 includes a boss 221 which is riveted to the outer tube 22 and is engaged with the notch 13 when the outer tube 22 is connected to the seat 1 so that the seat 1 is connected to the outer tube 22.

[0023] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the runner 4 further includes an extension section 42 which has the release part 41 formed thereto. The resilient protrusion 11 is disengaged from the release part 41 when pressing the release part 41. A sleeve 43 is movably mounted to the extension section 42. The sleeve 43 includes a recess 431 defined in the inner periphery thereof, and the sleeve 43 further includes an inclined face 432 formed at the inner top of the recess 431. When opening the umbrella, the runner 4 is moved to the umbrella-opening position s shown in FIG. 6, the resilient protrusion 11 is engaged with the release part 41 of the runner 4, and the release part 41 is accommodated in the recess 431 so that the runner 4 is positioned to stably open the umbrella. When folding the umbrella, the sleeve 43 together with the runner 4 are pulled away from the cap 3, the inclined face 432 pushes the release part 41 inward so that the release part 41 pushes the resilient protrusion 11 which is then released from the engagement with the release part 41. The runner 4 is moved downward as shown in FIG. 7 to fold the umbrella. Furthermore, the sleeve 43 includes a restriction flange 433 at the lower end thereof such that the sleeve 43 is stopped by the restriction flange 433 when the sleeve 43 is pulled downward.

[0024] The engagement between the resilient protrusion 11 of the seat 1 and the release part 41 of the runner 4, the gap between the runner 4 and the shaft 2 is eliminated, so that the umbrella is opened stably. The resilient protrusion 11 of the seat 1 improves the shortcoming of unstable runner found gap between the inner periphery of the runner 4 and the shaft 2 of the conventional umbrellas when the umbrellas are opened. Therefore, the inner tubes 21 of the present invention can use larger tubes to reinforce the structural strength of the shaft 2.

[0025] While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.