Patent ID: 7204261
Filing Date: 2007-04-17
Classification: A45B

Abstract:
1. A lower nest structure for a collapsible umbrella, said collapsible umbrella comprising a telescoping central shaft made of a plurality of section with the upper sections having larger diameters than the lower sections, an upper section of said central shaft having a pair of positioning holes opposing to each other, said collapsible umbrella further comprising an upper nest configured on the top end of a topmost section of said central shaft, a rib structure whose ribs are connected to both said upper nest and said lower nest, said lower nest comprising: a tubular member which sleeves over and is able to slide up and down along said central shaft, said tubular member comprising a tubular section and an operation knob configured at the bottom end of said tubular section, a pair of opposing guiding holes being configured around said tubular section, said guiding holes having a sloped upper edge slanting downward towards said central shaft, a pair of opposing wedges being configured below and orthogonal to said guiding holes, said wedges having a protruding bottom surface, said operation knob having a larger diameter than that of said tubular section so as to form a flange; and a body member comprising a ring section which sleeves over said tubular section and is confined by said flange and said bottom surface of said wedges between which said ring section is able to move up and down, the height of said ring section being substantially smaller than the distance between said flange and said bottom surface of said wedges so that a gap is formed therebetween, said ring section having a plurality of rib slots for joining the ribs of said rib structure, said body member further comprising a pair of opposing hook elements configured on top of said ring section which could be expanded outward flexibly and thereby exert an inward force, reversed hooks being configured on the top ends of said hook elements roughly corresponding to the locations of said guiding holes, said reversed hooks having a sloped surface slanting downward towards said central shaft, said reversed hooks being able to penetrate through said guiding holes; wherein, when said tubular member is pushed upward, said body member is taken along with said tubular member; when said tubular member reaches an appropriate position, said reversed hooks penetrate through said guiding holes and into said positioning holes of said central shaft; said lower nest is therefore fixedly locked to said position to sustain said collapsible umbrella in an open configuration; when said tubular member is pulled downward, said body member is taken along with said tubular member, said sloped upper edges of said guiding holes lift said sloped surfaces of said reversed hooks so as to relieve said reversed hooks from said positioning holes, said lower nest is therefore able to slide downward to close said collapsible umbrella.