Abstract:
The invention adds one or more vertically-deployable sun shades to an umbrella for selectively providing shade for one or more users of an umbrella. More specifically, the sun shade resembles a conventional shade or set of blinds for covering a window. The size, shape, materials, and arrangement of the sun shade can vary according to user preferences or the intended manner or place of use.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
   This application is a Continuation-in-Part application of and claimed priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/687,925 filed on Mar. 19, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,503,336, which in turn is based on and claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/889,323, filed on Feb. 12, 2007. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates in general to umbrellas for providing protection from the elements. More specifically, the invention is directed to one or more sun shades which vertically deploy from an umbrella in order to selectively create shade for one or more users of the umbrella. 
   Umbrellas and similar protective coverings are commonly used at beaches, on patios, and in other settings in order to block sunlight or light emitted from another source in order to improve the comfort of one or more users of the umbrella. Such umbrellas provide diminishing utility to their users, however, if the sun or other light source changes its position relative to the placement of the umbrella, such that the light rays emitted therefrom are not satisfactorily blocked by the umbrella. Further, there also arises a similar problem with rain or other weather conditions, whereby changing weather conditions diminish the utility of the umbrella in a similar manner. 
   While tilting or otherwise changing the position of the umbrella might improve the comfort of some users of the umbrella, there arises the problem that this tilting or change of position negatively affects the comfort of other users of the umbrella. In other words, while it may be possible to reposition the umbrella to place one user in the shade, the relocation similarly places another in the sun. U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,047, for example, discloses a position adjustment member for an umbrella. The adjustment member allows the umbrella to tilt and rotate to a number of different positions. The position adjustment member, however, succumbs to the problem outlined above. 
   In view of the above, it would be desirable to provide an umbrella which features a mechanism for selectively providing shade for one or more users of an umbrella, that improves the comfort of one or more users of the umbrella without affecting the comfort of other users of the umbrella. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention provides one or more vertically-deployable sun shades for selectively providing shade for one or more users of an umbrella. More specifically, such a sun shade resembles a conventional shade or set of blinds for covering a window. The size, shape, materials, and arrangement of the vertically-deployable sun shade can vary according to user preferences or the intended manner or place of use. As one example, the sun shade can be made of a transparent or semi-transparent material embedded with or otherwise made of an anti-ultraviolet light chemical. In another example, the sun shade can be made of conventional cloth. It should be readily understood that components of the vertically-deployable sun shade can be made variously of metal, wood, plastic, and the like. Further, it should be understood that the umbrella can be of all shapes and sizes, can be made of any material, and can adhere to any number of configurations, alignments, and specifications. 
   It is well known that an umbrella is comprised of a rod which supports an umbrella canopy. Preferably, the vertically-deployable sun shade is an integral part of the umbrella and resides underneath one or more panels of the umbrella canopy. In this embodiment, the sun shade can be a permanent part of the umbrella or can be attached to and removed from the umbrella according to user preference. In one preferred embodiment, the vertically-deployable sun shade is permanently affixed to the rib of the umbrella by an attachment portion, which allows the sun shade to pivot and align itself generally parallel or adjacent to the rib. In another preferred embodiment, the attachment portion is designed to pivot in the middle so that two sun shade portions fold up within one panel of the umbrella in an inverted “V” configuration. In the case where the sun shade is not a permanent part of the umbrella, the sun shade is attached to the umbrella by an attachment portion. The attachment portion can comprise a clip, Velcro (Reg. Trademark of Velcro Industries B.V.), a snap fastener or any other mechanical attachment device sufficient to attach the sun shade to the umbrella. It should be readily apparent that, in some cases, the attachment portion of the vertically-deployable sun shade may require a complementary device on the umbrella, such as with the use of Velcro or a snap fastener. 
   Regardless of whether or not the sun shade is an integral part of the umbrella, the sun shade, in one embodiment, preferably deploys from a conventional window shade roller. Alternatively, the sun shade is rolled up or folded and contained by a sun shade containment portion. A sun shade containment portion might be comprised of a tie, bin, or other device that compactly contains the sun shade. Further, the sun shade containment portion might be an integral part of the umbrella or the sun shade. It should be readily understood that other arrangements are possible, including the use of a conventional set of window blinds. 
   In another embodiment of the invention, an umbrella including a plurality of vertically-deployable sun shades, as described above, can include an additional plurality of attachment portions for attaching one of the plurality of sun shades to one or more of the other sun shades among the plurality of sun shades. Because of potential gaps between each of the plurality of sun shades, it should be understood that an attachment portion can include an additional strip to close the gap therebetween. In this case, the additional plurality of attachment portions, when fully utilized among the fully deployed plurality of sun shades, forms an enclosure for improving the comfort of users of the umbrella. In this embodiment, each sun shade of the plurality of sun shades is preferably made of a mosquito netting or similar material. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A fuller understanding of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a top-down view of a panel of an umbrella canopy showing a vertically-deployable sun shade that is an integral part of an umbrella, wherein the umbrella canopy is opened; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a vertically-deployable sun shade; 
       FIG. 3A  is a perspective view of an umbrella canopy featuring a structure for automatically rotating a vertically-deployable sun shade that is an integral part of an umbrella; 
       FIG. 3B  is a perspective view of the umbrella of  FIG. 3A  with the vertically-deployable sun shade in the lowered state; 
       FIG. 3C  is a perspective view of the structure for automatically rotating the vertically-deployable sun shade of  FIG. 3A ; 
       FIG. 3D  is a perspective view of the umbrella of  FIG. 3A  wherein the umbrella canopy is partially closed; 
       FIG. 3E  is a perspective view of the umbrella of  FIG. 3A  wherein the umbrella canopy is fully closed; 
       FIG. 4  is a side view of a vertically-deployable sun shade temporarily attached to an umbrella; 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an embodiment of the present invention wherein the vertically-deployable sun shade is an integral part of the umbrella canopy is discussed with reference to  FIG. 5 . 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an enclosure formed from the attachment of each of a plurality of vertically-deployable sun shades included in an umbrella by utilizing a plurality of attachment strips to connect adjacent vertically-deployable sun shades among the plurality of vertically-deployable sun shades together. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a further embodiment of the invention in which a hinged deployment structure is utilized to deploy sun shade portions; 
       FIG. 8  is a top view of the hinged deployment structure illustrated in  FIG. 7 ; 
       FIG. 9  is a side view of the hinged deployment structure illustrated in  FIG. 7 ; 
       FIG. 10  is a schematic illustration of a bi-directional pulley system; 
       FIG. 11  illustrates a further embodiment of the invention utilizing a hinged deployment structure; and 
       FIG. 12  illustrates the closure of an umbrella utilizing the hinged deployment structure of  FIG. 11 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   A first embodiment of the present invention shall be discussed with reference to  FIG. 1 , which illustrates a top-down view of an umbrella and its umbrella canopy  10 . The umbrella canopy  10  includes ribs  12   a  and  12   b  for sustaining the structure of the umbrella canopy  10  when it is fully opened, a canopy covering including canopy panels  14  disposed between the ribs, and a vertically-deployable sun shade  16 . In the present embodiment, the sun shade  16  resides underneath the panel  14 . It should be understood that more than one vertically-deployable sun shade  16  may reside underneath any or all of the additional panels of the umbrella canopy  10 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 2 , the sun shade  16  includes a sun shade member  16   a , which can be made of various materials as described above. As one example, the sun shade member  16   a  can be made of a transparent or semi-transparent material embedded with or otherwise made of an anti-ultraviolet light chemical. Alternatively, the sun shade member  16   a  can be made of cloth conventionally used in window coverings. One end of the sun shade member  16   a  is affixed in a conventional manner to a deployment portion  16   b  (shown in phantom.) In the illustrated example, the deployment portion  16   b  is a conventional spring-loaded window shade roller, and the sun shade member  16   a  is wrapped around the deployment portion  16   b  in a conventional manner. It should be understood that the roller shown is of a type used in conventional window coverings or the like. It should also be understood that the deployment portion  16   b  and the sun shade member  16   a  could also be of a type conventionally used with a set of Venetian blinds, mini-shades, honeycomb blinds, pleated shades or of another type entirely. When using such a sun shade member  16   a , the sun shade  16  includes an appropriate blind support which functions as the sun shade deployment portion  16   b . An activation portion  16   c , shown in  FIG. 2  as a ring, provides a user with the ability to activate or deploy shade member  16   a  from the deployment portion  16   b . The activation portion  16   c  can vary depending on the nature of the deployment portion  16   b , and may be an integral part of the sun shade member  16   a . Specifically, the activation portion  16   c  may simply be an edge of the sun shade member  16   a , as illustrated in  FIG. 5 . Further, it should be understood that the activation portion  16   c  can be comprised of a mechanized system for raising and lowering the sun shade member  16   a  by touch or remote control.  FIG. 1  illustrates the vertically-deployable sun shade  16  as generally parallel to the umbrella canopy periphery  18  upon opening the umbrella by an umbrella activation member (not shown), such as a crank. 
   In one embodiment, the vertically-deployable sun shade  16  is permanently affixed to the rib  12   b  by an attachment portion  16   d . In a preferred embodiment, the attachment portion  16   d  allows the sun shade  16  to pivot and align itself generally parallel or adjacent to the rib  12   b . Immediately prior to closing the umbrella canopy  10  by use of the umbrella activation member, it is required that a user move the sun shade  16  toward the rib  12   b  such that the sun shade  16  lies generally parallel to the rib  12   b . A receiving member  22  connected to the rib receives a protrusion  16   e  extending from the sun shade  16  such that the protrusion  16   e  snaps into the receiving member and is thus firmly held in place. Further, an additional receiving member  24  (shown in phantom) is preferably attached to the umbrella canopy periphery  18  and/or the rib  12   a  for securing the sun shade  16  when it is generally parallel to the umbrella canopy periphery  18 . Alternatively, the protrusion  16   e  and the additional receiving member  24  can be removed and the attachment portion  16   d  can provide adequate strength to hold the sun shade  16  in a position generally parallel to the umbrella canopy periphery  18 . Additionally, it should be noted that the umbrella canopy  10  includes an umbrella hub  11 , as is typical of an umbrella. 
     FIGS. 3A through 3E  illustrate an alternative embodiment which includes a structure for automatically rotating a vertically-deployable sun shade that is an integral part of an umbrella. For ease of illustration,  FIGS. 3A through 3E  show the umbrella canopy of the umbrella with the umbrella covering removed. Unlike  FIG. 1 ,  FIGS. 3A through 3E  illustrate sun shade  16  as a pleated blind. Referring to  FIG. 3A , the sun shade  16  attaches to the umbrella at each end by the attachment portions  16   d , each comprised of a retaining bracket in the illustrated example.  FIG. 3A  illustrates a raised position for the sun shade member  16   a  and  FIG. 3B  shows a lowered position for the sun shade member  16   b . Additionally, one of the attachment portions  16   d  at a first end of the sun shade  16  is set or moveably attached to a runner  13  that is affixed to the rib  12   b . The runner  13  allows the first end of the vertically-deployable sun shade  16  to slide freely in a trajectory generally parallel to the rib  12   b , and additionally, the attachment portion  16   d  at the second end of the sun shade  16  allows the second end of the sun shade  16  to rotate freely, such that as the umbrella is closed the sun shade  16  is rotated into a position substantially parallel to the ribs. The runner  13  and attachment portion  16   d  are more closely illustrated in  FIG. 3C . The progressive closing of the umbrella canopy is shown in  FIGS. 3D and 3E . Referring to  FIG. 3C , the runner  13  includes a channel or groove by which the attachment portion  16   d  can be inserted into and allowed to move in a trajectory generally parallel to the rib  12   b . It should be additionally noted that the runner  13  can be an integral part of the rib  12   b.    
   With the vertically-deployable sun shade  16  disposed in this manner, the vertically-deployable sun shade  16  is able to collapse in tandem with the ribs of the umbrella canopy  10  as the umbrella canopy  10  is closed by the umbrella activation member (not shown.) A wire (not shown) embedded in or that runs generally parallel to the rib  12   b  provides the work necessary for this novel operability. One end of the wire is connected to the appropriate attachment portion  16   d . The other end of the wire is attached to a cable (not shown) running from the umbrella activation member to the umbrella hub  11 . This cable is disposed such that an activation of the umbrella activation member to close the umbrella canopy  10  increases tension in the cable, and an activation of the umbrella activation member to open the umbrella canopy  10  releases tension in the cable. Such a disposition causes the movement of one end of the vertically-deployable sun shade  16  along the runner  13  as the umbrella canopy is closed. As this occurs, each end of the vertically-deployable sun shade  16  rotates as necessary.  FIGS. 3D and 3E  illustrate this movement. Conversely, upon opening the umbrella canopy  10  by utilization of the umbrella activation member, the force of gravity provides for the opposite movement to occur due to a release of tension in the cable. Hence, in this embodiment, there is no need for a user to manually rotate the sun shade  16  upon opening or closing the umbrella canopy  10 . 
   In another embodiment of the invention, a vertically-deployable sun shade is provided which can attach to an umbrella or another object. Referring again to  FIG. 2 , the attachment portions  16   d  comprise clips that allow the sun shade  16  to be clipped on to the umbrella canopy periphery  18 . It should be understood that the clips resembling the operation and feel of a clothespin or similar device. It should be further understood that the clip can be made of many different materials, among them plastic and metal. Of course, other devices can be used for the attachment portion  16   d  that permit the sun shade  16  to be easily attached and detached from the umbrella canopy.  FIG. 4  illustrates the vertically-deployable sun shade  16  with clip type attachment portions  16   d.    
   Another embodiment of the present invention wherein the vertically-deployable sun shade is an integral part of the umbrella canopy is discussed with reference to  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  shows a front view of an umbrella wherein the vertically-deployable sun shade  16  is attached to the panel  14  at the attachment portion  16   d  utilizing conventional materials and methods. In the illustrated embodiment, an activation portion  16   b  is comprised of a tie, or long piece of material, including a snap fastener  28   a . A complementary portion  28   b  to the snap fastener is conventionally affixed to the panel  14 . It should be readily understood that the activation portion  16   b  could instead include Velcro, a clip, or some other means for fastening the activation portion  16   b  to the umbrella canopy  10  in order to contain the sun shade member  16   a . It should be noted that in this embodiment the activation portion  16   b  also constitutes a containment portion for containing the vertically-deployable sun shade  16  in order to compactly store the vertically-deployable sun shade  16 . It should be further noted that in this particular illustrated case the deployment portion  16   b  and the sun shade member  16   a  are the same thing, since an edge of the sun shade member  16   a  serves as the activation portion  16   c.    
   Yet another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in  FIG. 6 . The present embodiment provides for an enclosure, wherein the enclosure is formed by a plurality of the previously described vertically-deployable sun shades  16  either integrated into an umbrella or as a temporary part thereof.  FIG. 6  illustrates the case where the sun shades  16  are not an integral part of the umbrella. In this embodiment, the aforementioned enclosure is formed from the attachment of each of the plurality of sun shades  16  to one another. Because a gap may occur between the vertically-deployable sun shades  16 , an attachment strip  30  made of the same material as the sun shade member  16   a  can be utilized in order to fill such gaps. The attachment strip  30  should be made of the same material as the sun shade member  16   a , although it can be made of a different material entirely. It should be understood that although the figure illustrates the use of temporary sun shades  16 , the sun shades  16  could also be integrated into the umbrella canopy  10  as previously described. Each of the attachment strips  30  may be comprised of a snap fastener, a clip, Velcro, or other attachment devices. In the illustrated example, the attachment strips  30  comprise Velcro and the sun shades  16  include the complementary Velcro components necessary for such attachment (not shown.) It should also be noted that, preferably, the sun shade member  16   a  is made of mosquito netting or a transparent or semi-transparent material. Further, stakes  31  can be added to stake the sun shade portions to the ground. 
   Another embodiment of the invention in which each sun shade folds up within the umbrella canopy in an inverted “V” shape is shown in  FIG. 7 . In this embodiment, the sun shade includes two sun shade portions  40  (indicated in phantom to allow underlying structure to be shown and each being the same in structure as the above described sun shade) are each mounted to a hinged member  42 , which in turn is mounted to the umbrella ribs  44  via rod end couplings  46  that are attached to attachment points  48 . The hinged member  42  acts as a deployment structure to deploy the sun shade portions  40  into a position in which the shades of the sun shade portions  40  can be vertically deployed.  FIG. 8  illustrates the hinged member  42  in its full extended position when the umbrella canopy is up.  FIG. 9  illustrates the hinged member  42  when the umbrella canopy is down. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the hinged member  42  preferably includes a central hinge  50  including an integral tension spring  52  that helps the rod to fold into an inverted “V” shape shown in  FIG. 9  when the umbrella canopy is lowered down. The sun shade portions  40  are preferably mounted to provide overlap therebetween. For example, one sun shade portion  40  is preferably mounted to a front portion of one arm  54  of the hinged member  42 , while a second sun shade portion  40  is mounted to a back portion of a second arm  56  of the hinged member  42 . Accordingly, the sun shade portions  40  do not interfere with one another when the hinged member  42  is moved to the inverted “V” position, and are moved into positions that are generally parallel with a rib of the umbrella canopy when the umbrella canopy is closed. Other mounting positions are possible, for example, the sun shade portions  40  can be mounted below the first arm  54  and second arm  56 . Still further, the sun shade portions  40  can be mounted such that they do not overlap, but this would be less desirable than an overlapping installation. 
   In the above embodiments, it should be understood that additional weight provided in the vertically-deployable sun shade might be useful in windy weather conditions. Therefore, the vertically-deployable sun shade of the above embodiments can additionally include a metal or otherwise appropriately heavy object in order to provide enhanced stability in windy weather conditions. 
   In conventional umbrellas, the canopy is deployed by rotating a crank mechanism that operates to wind a line around a spindle. The line is attached to hub that moves up and down the umbrella pole. The hub is connected to the canopy deployment structure. With the crank is turned, the line pulls the hub upward to open the canopy. When lowering the umbrella, however, such conventional crank mechanisms are not designed to apply a positive force to the line to pull the canopy closed and the force of gravity is primarily relied upon to close the canopy. In the above described embodiments in which the sun shades are pulled generally vertical upon closing the umbrella, however, it would be desirable to provide a positive force when closing the umbrella canopy to help in overcoming the additional frictional forces created by pulling the sun shades to the vertical position. 
     FIG. 10  illustrates a bi-direction pulley system that is preferably used to open and close an umbrella canopy. A first cable  60  is attached to a spindle  62  within the body of the umbrella pole, traverses through one or more upper pulleys  64 , exits the pole at a location above the umbrella hub (now shown), and has an end  66  attached to the top the hub. When a crank attached to the spindle  62  is turned, the first cable  60  winds around the spindle  62  and pulls the hub up forcing the umbrella ribs and attached canopy to open. A second cable  68  is also attached to the spindle  64  on a side opposite to the first cable  60 , and is preferably separated from the first cable  60  a divider  70  provided on the spindle  62 . The second cable  68 , traverses through one or more lower pulleys  72 , exits the pole at a location below the umbrella hub and is attached to the bottom of the hub. When the crank is turned in the opposite direction, the second cable  68  is wound around the spindle  62  and applies a positive closing force to the hub through the lower pulleys  72 . In other words, the two pulley systems are oppositely wound so that one applies a positive opening force and the other applies a positive closing force 
   The invention has been described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof. It will be understood, however, that modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims. For example, while the invention has been described with reference to an umbrella, the invention is also applicable to other types of shades including awning canopy or a tent canopy, as just one example. Further, the invention is not limited to the specific mechanical structures illustrated in the preferred embodiments for folding the sun shades within in the canopy, but instead, is intended to cover any mechanical structure that accomplishes rotating the vertically-deployable sun shade or sun shade portions into a position generally parallel with a rib of the umbrella canopy when the umbrella canopy is closed.  FIG. 11 , for example, illustrates a further embodiment in which an actuating mechanism  80  is provided to pull sun shade portions  82  substantially vertical as shown in  FIG. 12 .