SPREADING MECHANISM FOR AN EXPANDABLE APPARATUS AS WELL AS EXPANDABLE APPARATUS

Abstract

A spreading mechanism for an expandable apparatus and an expandable apparatus including a stanchion and an expandable supporting structure having several pairs of support arms extending apart in a star-shaped manner and support struts hinged to the support arms. The support arms are hinged to a first central fixture and the support struts are hinged to a second central fixture. The spreading mechanism expands or closes the supporting structure by reducing or increasing the distance between the first central fixture and the second central fixture. The spreading mechanism includes an actuating mechanism and a pulley block with a pulley block rope, a fixedly affixed first pulley block roll holder and a movable second pulley block roll holder, each with one or more pulley block rolls through which the pulley block rope is guided. The actuating mechanism is connected to the movable second pulley block roll holder of the pulley block, and a fast end of the pulley block rope acts in a shifting manner on the first and/or the second central fixture in order to change their distance to each other.

Claims

1. A spreading mechanism for an expandable apparatus including a stanchion and an expandable supporting structure having several pairs of support arms extending apart in a star-shaped manner and support struts hinged to the support arms, said support arms being hinged to a first central fixture and said support struts being hinged to a second central fixture, the spreading mechanism comprising: an actuating mechanism; and a pulley block with a pulley block rope, a fixedly affixed first pulley block roll holder and a movable second pulley block roll holder; wherein each of the first pulley block roll holder and the second pulley block roll holder is provided with one or more pulley block rolls through which the pulley block rope is guided, wherein the actuating mechanism is connected to the movable second pulley block roll holder of the pulley block and a fast end of the pulley block rope acts in a shifting manner on the first central fixture and/or the second central fixture in order to change their distance to each other, and wherein the spreading mechanism is configured to expand or close the expandable supporting structure by reducing or increasing the distance between the first central fixture and the second central fixture.

2. The spreading mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the pulley block is disposed in the interior of the stanchion.

3. The spreading mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the pulley block has a transmission ratio being between 2:1 and 10:1.

4. The spreading mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the pulley block has a transmission ratio between 4:1 and 8:1.

5. The spreading mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a force assistance device, which is configured to permanently exert a force on the movable second pulley block roll holder of the pulley block, which force is directed in the direction of expanding the supporting structure.

6. The spreading mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the force assistance device is designed as a spring device with a spring or a combination of springs.

7. The spreading mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the combination of springs comprises two or more selected from the group consisting of a spiral spring, a gas spring, a gas tension spring and a weight.

8. The spreader mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the spring device has a linear or degressive or progressive spring characteristic.

9. The spreading mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the actuating mechanism is fixedly connected to the movable second pulley block roll holder of the pulley block.

10. The spreading mechanism according to claim 9, wherein the actuating mechanism is connected to the movable second pulley block roll holder of the pulley block via a pull rope, a pull chain or via a rigid pull push rod.

11. The spreading mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the actuating mechanism is a lever, an electric winch, a hand pull rope, a hand crank, a foot pedal or hand lever for a pull rope, or a hand lever for a rigid pull push rod.

12. The spreading mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a locking apparatus for the actuating mechanism or the actuating mechanism is self-locking.

13. The spreading mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the actuating mechanism is a hand lever, wherein the hand lever comprises a short lever arm and a long lever arm, wherein the short lever arm is connected at one end to the movable second pulley block roll holder of the pulley block and is articulated jointed at its other end with the long lever arm, wherein the long lever arm is pivotally affixed to the stanchion at a first distance from the connection to the short lever arm about a horizontal axis of rotation, wherein the first distance and a second distance of the horizontal axis of rotation from the stanchion are selected such that in the case of opening of the expandable supporting structure by pivoting the long lever arm from a downward-pointing end position to an upward-pointing end position, the end of the short lever arm connected to the movable second pulley block roll holder of the pulley block passes through a low point and upon reaching the upward-pointing end position of the long lever arm assumes an end position above the low point.

14. An expandable apparatus comprising: a stanchion; an expandable supporting structure with a plurality of pairs of support arms extending apart in a star-shaped manner and support struts hinged to the support arms, said support arms being hinged to a first central fixture and said support struts being hinged to a second central fixture; and a spreading mechanism according to claim 1.

15. The expandable apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the expandable apparatus is a standing umbrella.

16. The expandable apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the standing umbrella is a center-mast umbrella or side-arm umbrella.

17. The expandable apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the expandable apparatus is a rotary clothes dryer.

18. The expandable apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the expandable apparatus is a combination rotary clothes dryer and center-mast umbrella.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The invention will be described below without restricting the general inventive idea on the basis of exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings, and regarding any details according to the invention which are not explained further in the text reference is expressly made to the drawings. They show in:

[0031] FIG. 1 a schematic representation of a standing umbrella in the closed and opened state,

[0032] FIG. 2 a schematic representation of an embodiment of a spreading mechanism according to the invention.

[0033] FIG. 3 schematic representations of two embodiments of spreading mechanisms according to the invention,

[0034] FIG. 4 schematic representations of embodiments of spreading mechanisms with different actuating mechanisms, and

[0035] FIG. 5 a schematic representation of a mode of operation of an embodiment of a spreading mechanism having a self-locking actuating mechanism.

[0036] In the drawings, the same or similar types of elements and/or parts are provided with the same reference numbers so that a corresponding re-introduction is omitted, respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0037] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a standing umbrella as an example of an expandable apparatus 10 in the closed and open state. The standing umbrella disposes of a stanchion 12, also referred to as a mast, which (not represented) may be anchored to the ground or set up with a stable pedestal. At its upper end, the standing umbrella carries a supporting structure 14 having a plurality of support arms 16, each of which is articulated jointed with a support strut 18. The support arms 16, on which an umbrella cover 17 rests, converge centrally on a first central fixture 20, also referred to as a crown, where they are hingedly suspended. Approximately in the center of the support arms 16, articulated connections to the support struts 18 are located, which in turn pass from the support arms 16 in the direction of the stanchion 12, where they are hingedly attached to a shiftable second central fixture 22, which is also referred to as a sliding sleeve or the like.

[0038] In the closed state shown on the left, the support arms 16 hang down substantially vertically from the first central fixture 20, which is fixedly connected to the upper end of the stanchion 12, just as the support struts 18. The distance between the first central fixture 20 and the shiftable second central fixture 22 is at maximum in this state. In the expanded state shown on the right, the support arms 16 point apart, but maintain a straight angle typical for standing umbrellas. The support arms 16 are held in the expanded position by the support struts 36. To this end, the second central fixture 22 has been shifted from its lower position to an upper position by a vertical stroke S2.

[0039] Additionally, a spreading mechanism 30 with a pulley block 32 according to the present invention in the upper region of the stanchion 12 is further shown in FIG. 1. The pulley block 32 includes a fixedly suspended first pulley block roll holder 34 and thereunder a movable second pulley block roll holder 36, each having a plurality of pulley block rolls 38. A pulley block rope 40, which can be clearly seen in FIG. 2, passes, wound several times, through the plurality of pulley block rolls 38 on the first pulley block roll holder 34 and the second pulley block roll holder 36. The pulley block rope 40 is connected by its fast end 42 to the shiftable second central fixture 22. The pulley block 32 is hinged such that a vertical shift of the movable second pulley block roll holder 36 by a stroke S1 is converted into an opposite stroke S2 of the fast end 42 of the pulley block rope 40. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, just as in the following exemplary embodiments, the transmission ratio of the strokes S2 to S1 is chosen to be 8:1. Conversely, the transmission ratio also applies to the force to be applied for expanding the supporting structure 14, which is thus increased eightfold.

[0040] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of a spreading mechanism according to the invention according to FIG. 1 in more detail. Therein it is visible, that the pulley block 32 is suspended with its upper first pulley block roll holder 34 from an upper suspension 33, while the lower second pulley block roll holder 36 is freely movable with regard to the first pulley block roll holder 34. Both pulley block roll holders 34, 36 each hold four pulley block rolls 38 of different circumferences, around which the pulley block rope 40 is wound in a manner typical of a pulley. The number of portions of the pulley block rope 40 between the first pulley block roll holder 34 and the second pulley block roll holder 36 is eight and determines the transmission ratio 8:1 of the pulley block 32. To this end, the pulley block rope 40 is fastened with its one end to an upper attachment point 35, which coincides with the axis of the lowermost pulley block roll 38 of the first pulley block roll holder 34. Subsequently, the pulley block rope 40 is respectively guided four times downward to a pulley block roll 38 of the second pulley block roll holder 36 and again upward to a pulley block roll 38 of the first pulley block roll holder 34. After the last guidance of the pulley block rope 40 upwards, the pulley block rope 34 is guided into the upper suspension 33 and there through a redirection roll 39 outwards and downwards to the shiftable second central fixture 22.

[0041] The lower second pulley block roll holder 36 in addition disposes of a lower attachment point 37 to which a force is applied, which can be applied by an actuating device of the spreading mechanism. As also indicated in FIG. 2, the transmission ratio 8:1 means for the pulley block 32 that a stroke S1 of the second pulley block roll holder 36 is converted into an opposite stroke S2 of the second central fixture 22. In its absolute value, the stroke S2 is eight times the stroke S1. Conversely, the force F2 on the second central fixture 42 is only one eighth of the force F1 exerted on the second pulley block roll holder 36.

[0042] FIG. 3 shows schematic representations of two embodiments of spreading mechanisms according to the invention, both of which have different force assistance devices 90, each of which is connected, for example suspended, at the lower attachment point 37 to the movable second pulley block roll holder 36 of the pulley block 32. In the left-hand representation of FIG. 3, it concerns a spiral spring 92, which is connected at the upper end to the second pulley block roll holder 36 and is fastened at its lower end to a spiral spring attachment 93 on the stanchion 12. In this configuration, the spiral spring 92 is a tension spring.

[0043] In the right half of FIG. 3 an embodiment is shown, in which the force assistance device 90 is a weight 94 that is suspended from the lower attachment point 37 on the second pulley block roll holder 36. The weight 94 pulls the second pulley block roll holder 36 downward with a constant weight force. With the transmission ratio of 8:1 unchanged with regard to the previous exemplary embodiments, one eighth of the weight force exerted by the weight 94 is applied to the second central holder 22 and is available for assistance of the opening of the supporting structure 14. Also the foot pedal 66 may be provided with a locking apparatus 80.

[0044] In the fourth example of FIG. 4, the actuating mechanism 50 comprises a hand lever 68, on which the pull rope 52 is attached approximately over one third of its extension from a hinge on the stanchion 12 to the open end of the hand lever 68. The supporting structure 14, not represented in FIG. 4, is expanded, in that the hand lever 68 is brought from its downward-facing position, which is shown in FIG. 4, to an upper position. By the lever action, the movement of the outer end of the hand lever 68 is transmitted to the second pulley block roll holder 36 with a transmission ratio of about 3:1.

[0045] FIG. 4 shows several schematic representations of embodiments of spreading mechanisms with different actuating mechanisms. In all of the embodiments represented there is present a force assistance device 90 in the form of a spiral spring 92 according to the left-hand illustration in FIG. 3.

[0046] The embodiments of FIG. 4 differ in the actuating mechanisms 50. In the left-to-right first embodiment, the actuating mechanism 50 comprises a hand crank 64 around which a pull rope 52 is wound. Depending on the length of the crank arm of the hand crank 64, the spreading mechanism 30 can be operated with reasonably little effort to expand the supporting structure 14. The hand crank 64 may be equipped with a lock and/or may be designed to be self-locking.

[0047] The second embodiment includes a hand pull rope 62 redirected around a redirection roll 63 as well as a hook 65, around which a loop of the hand pull rope 62 can be placed. The redirection roll 63 makes it possible to pull the loop of the hand pull rope 62 from the bottom upwards with a favorable lever and thus to exert a force on the second pulley block roll holder 36 at a more favorable angle of attack. If the redirection roll 63 is disposed close to the ground, even in the case of pulling sideward, only a small tilting moment is exerted on the apparatus due to the short lever arm to the ground. Because no force transmission occurs, this type of actuating mechanism 50 is particularly suitable for smaller transmission ratios of the pulley block 32. For locking, a further hook 65 for the loop of the hand pull rope 62 may be provided, for example, further up on the stanchion 12.

[0048] The embodiment shown in the center of FIG. 4 comprises a foot pedal 66 that is hingedly fixed at a pivot point 67. Approximately in the middle of the longitudinal extension of the foot pedal 66, a pull rope 52 or a rigid pull push rod 54 is connected to the foot pedal 66, which pulls the second pulley block roll holder 36 downward upon pressing down the foot pedal 66. The lever ratios on the foot pedal 66 result in a transmission ratio of 2:1, which in this case means that the stroke path of the open end of the foot pedal 66 is halved during the transmission to the second pulley block roll holder 36 and the force applied is doubled.

[0049] The embodiment shown on the far right in FIG. 4 is also based on the use of a hand lever 70, which, however, is provided with a self-locking mechanism. This one is represented schematically in FIG. 5 in its function from a closed position (left) to an opened and locked position (right).

[0050] In this exemplary embodiment, the hand lever 70 includes a long lever arm 74 with a handle 75 and a short lever arm 72, which is articulated jointed with the long lever arm 74 and represents a connection between the long lever arm 74 and a rigid pull push rod 54 in the interior of the stanchion 12, which forms the lever arm 70 with the lower attachment point 37 of the second pulley block roll holder 36, as shown, for example, in FIG. 2. A hinge 73 forms the connection between the short lever arm 72 and the pull push rod 54. The long lever arm 74 is pivotable with regard to the stanchion 12 about a horizontal hinge axis 76 that is suspended from an attachment body 78 affixed laterally outside to the stanchion 12.

[0051] On the left in FIG. 5, the initial situation for expanding the supporting structure 14, not represented in FIG. 5, is shown. The long lever arm 74 faces horizontally downward. Slightly above the horizontal axis of rotation 76 of the long lever arm 74, the short lever arm 72 is articulated, which passes obliquely downward into the stanchion 12 and is connected through the hinge 73 to the pull push rod 54, which is in its uppermost position in this situation. This corresponds to the situation shown on the left in FIG. 1, where the supporting structure 14 is closed.

[0052] For expanding, the long lever arm 74 is pivoted upward, which is depicted in the three subsequent partial images of FIG. 5. Deflected through the horizontal axis of rotation 76, the end of the long lever arm 74 connected to the short lever arm 72 moves downward and takes along the pull push rod 54 downward through the hinge 73, thus pulling the second pulley block roll holder 36 of the pulley block 32 downward and thus expanding the supporting structure 14. It can further be seen that a comparatively large transmission ratio is achieved through the ratios of the lengths of the sections of the long lever arm 74, relative to the horizontal axis of rotation 76, so that, in comparison, the supporting structure 14 thus is expanded with little expenditure of force.

[0053] The two right-hand partial illustrations of FIG. 5 show the situation shortly before and upon reaching the expanded end position. In the second to last illustration (second from the right), the long lever arm 74 and the short lever arm 72 form a straight line. In this configuration, the hinge 73 occupies its lowest point, i.e. the supporting structure 14 is expanded to its maximum extent.

[0054] Upon further pivoting the long lever arm 74 upward up to the end position parallel to the stanchion 12, the short lever arm 72 again bends from the long lever arm 74, so that the hinge 73 assumes a slightly higher position than at its lowest point. Thereby, the supporting structure 14 is minimally relaxed, wherein in this position the tension weighs on the supporting structure 14, which is provided for the expanded operation of the supporting structure 14. This one is slightly less than the tension at the low point of the hinge 73. This means that for relaxing the supporting structure 14 and for pivoting the long lever arm 74 downward from its upward-facing end position, a force must be applied that is greater than the force that acts on the long lever arm 74 respectively on the supporting structure 14 in the end position. In other words, the force ratios are therefore such that the long lever arm 74 is pulled in the direction of the stanchion 12 between the second-to-last position shown and the end position shown on the right. Force must therefore be applied up to the position where the short lever arm 72 and the long lever arm 74 are aligned. Only after the hinge 73 has overcome its low point during de-expanding, the force ratios assist the further relaxation of the supporting structure 14. This can also be assisted by manually actuating the long lever arm 74 downward, as the rigid pull push rod 54 relays the upward movement of the hinge 73 to the second pulley block roll holder 36 of the pulley block 32.

[0055] The attachment body 78 may also comprise a clamping recess for the long lever arm 74 of the hand lever 70, which further acts in an assisting manner for locking the long lever arm 74.

[0056] The actuating mechanisms 50 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are partially disposed near the ground, meaning that a person operating the actuating mechanism 50 does not stand in the way of the opening supporting structure 14.

[0057] All of the cited features, also including those to be taken from the drawings alone, as well as individual features, which are disclosed in combination with other features, are considered alone and in combination as essential to the invention. Embodiments according to the invention may be fulfilled by individual features, or a combination of several features.

LISTING OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS APPEARING IN THE DRAWINGS

[0058] The following reference characters appear in the accompanying drawing figures: [0059] 10 Expandable apparatus [0060] 12 Stanchion [0061] 14 Supporting structure [0062] 16 Support arm [0063] 17 Umbrella cover [0064] 18 Support strut [0065] 20 First central fixture [0066] 22 Second central fixture [0067] 30 Spreading mechanism [0068] 32 Pulley block [0069] 33 Upper suspension [0070] 34 First pulley block roll holder [0071] 35 Upper attachment point [0072] 36 Second pulley block roll holder [0073] 37 Lower attachment point [0074] 38 Pulley block rolls [0075] 39 Redirection roll [0076] 40 Pulley block rope [0077] 42 Fast end of the pulley block rope [0078] 50 Actuating mechanism [0079] 52 Pull rope [0080] 54 Rigid pull push rod [0081] 60 Lever [0082] 62 Hand pull rope [0083] 63 Redirection roll [0084] 64 Hand crank [0085] 65 Hook [0086] 66 Foot pedal [0087] 67 Pivot point [0088] 68 Hand lever [0089] 70 Hand lever [0090] 72 Short lever arm [0091] 73 Hinge [0092] 74 Long lever arm [0093] 75 Handle [0094] 76 Horizontal axis of rotation [0095] 78 Attachment body [0096] 80 Locking apparatus [0097] 90 Force assistance device [0098] 92 Spiral spring [0099] 93 Spiral spring attachment [0100] 94 Weight