Abstract:
A parachute structure is introduced, including a supporting tube that contains a second inner tube having a first inner tube contained in its hollow tube body, wherein the supporting tube further includes a pushing bar to push up the first inner tube; and a plurality of parachute canopy folded and superposed on the supporting tube, such that the canopy is held and lifted up with the semi-circular holding part above the first and second inner tubes in a half-extended state. Each canopy of the parachute is pushed up by adjusting positions to lift up the first and second inner tubes of the supporting tube, for allowing the user to easily maneuver the extension of the canopy, making it an efficient escape tool that is not only very mobile and easy to maneuver, but is also bandy in terms of packing up for storage.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a parachute, and more particularly, to a parachute having a plurality of canopy superposed on a supporting tube, easy to operate and compact in size, so as to allow individual facing the emergency situation to escape from a high building to the ground.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    An advanced facility that can effectively save more human lives and reduce casualties during incidents of massive fares is provided in view of the 911 terrorists&#39; attack that took place and crashed Twin Tower building in New York City. In this tragedy, victims were unable to escape in time due to lack of effective equipment at hand provided before the building collapsed As a result, those people that were trapped at the higher areas of the building have sacrificed their lives along with the collapse of the buildings.  
           [0003]    The most efficient way of evacuating the residents in the skyscraper when experiencing terrible plane crash attack or serious fire is to use a parachute as a tool to escape. As the relevant information was studied, the conventional parachute usually has a canopy of 6 meters in diameter. Due to the huge size of the canopy, a larger landing area is required when such parachute is used, so as to extend the canopy by enough resistance produced by the air current turbulence. Therefore, this makes the conventional parachute not suitable as a tool for escaping from the high buildings. Also, it is very complicated to pack up the conventional parachute, which is not easily maneuvered by a novice, contributing another reason not to choose the conventional parachute as the tool for escaping from the high buildings.  
           [0004]    In light of the fact that the conventional parachute was not suitably used as a tool for escaping from a high area, a huge amount of investigation work has been put to research and modify from the available parachute. So, with many years of experience and continuous tests, the parachute of the present invention is developed.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    An objective of the present invention is to provide a parachute that is easy to operate, so as to enable individual facing the emergency accident to escape safely and efficiently from a high building to the ground.  
           [0006]    Another objective of the present invention is to provide a parachute having its canopy to be folded up easily, so as to make the parachute compact in size and mobile to different places.  
           [0007]    In accordance with the objective, the present invention proposes the parachute having a plurality of canopy superposed on a supporting tube, wherein the supporting tube contains a first inner tube, and the first inner tube further contains a second inner tube. And on the first inner tube and the second inner tube, round shielding bodies are formed to touch on the corresponding canopies, such that the canopies are held up to result a half extended state when the first and second inner tubes are operated to rise up along the supporting tube. And a plurality of first supporting frames are formed at the periphery of the canopy, wherein each of the first supporting frame has one end coupled to the supporting tube and another end coupled to the second supporting frame so as to support peripheral part of a plurality of the canopy as the canopy is extended. And each layer of the canopy is fastened by a fastening rope whose other end is fixed at the ball-shaped shielding body on the upper part of the supporting tube. So as the parachute user adjusts the position for the first and second inner tubes to rise up the first and second supporting frames are pulled to extend by the canopy, resulting a pre-extended state at the peripheral region of the canopy. As a result, the user can quickly engage into the fully extended operation during landing. This greatly reduces height required for the canopy to fully extend. Therefore, with the parachute of the present invention, anyone who experience major disaster at the higher area may be able to escape to the ground. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a parachute canopy in an extended state according to the present invention;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an internal structure of the supporting tube and the first looping ring according to the present invention;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating structure of the first inner tube containing the top bar;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the supporting tube in operation according to the present invention; and  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the parachute canopy in a folded state according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0014]    As shown in FIG. 1, the parachute comprises: a supporting tube  10  having a vertical guide groove  101  formed centrally therein, wherein the supporting tube  10  has a hollow portion for containing a second inner tube, and the second inner tube  20  has a hollow portion for containing a first inner tube  30 ; a plurality of canopy  50  folded and superposed in sequence on the supporting tube  10 , a plurality of first supporting frames  60 , arranged symmetrically as a ring in the periphery of the canopy to couple to a plurality of second supporting frames  70 , such that the inner layer of the canopy  50  is supported to complete the extension; and a plurality of fastening ropes evenly distributed to each canopy  50  to provide a clustered connection, so that a buffering force produced by each canopy  50  during landing can act on the supporting tube  10 .  
         [0015]    On an edge of the supporting tube  10 , a vertical guide groove  101  is formed, allowing a first looping ring  102  and a second looping ring  103  that embrace the supporting tube  10  to slide up and down along the guide groove  101 , wherein an outwardly projected connecting rib  102   a  is formed along portions of the inner circumferential wall of the first looping ring  102  corresponding to the guide groove  101 . Referring to both FIGS. 1 and 2, the connecting rib  102   a  has the other end extending into the guide groove  101  and fixing to the wall of the second inner tube  20  contained in the supporting tube  10 . Similarly, an outwardly projected connecting rib  103   a  is formed along portions of the inner circumferential wall of the second looping ring  103  corresponding to the guide groove  101 . The connecting rib  103   a  has the other end extending into the guide groove  101  and fixing to an arm of a pushing bar  40  contained in the second inner tube  20 . Referring to both FIGS. 1 and 3, a pushing portion of the pushing bar  40  forms a sideway-projected holding part  401 . And a vertical guide groove  301  is formed by extending upwards from a bottom opening part  301   a  of the first inner tube  30  contained in the second inner tube  20 , so that the holding part  401  of the pushing bar  40  can insert along the guide groove  301 , allowing the first inner tube to slide downwards into the second inner tube  20 .  
         [0016]    As illustrated in FIG. 4, several side grooves  101   a,    101   b,    101   c,  and  101   d  are formed along longitudinally along the guide groove  101  of the supporting tube  10 , such that the connecting rib  102   a  can lock with the side grooves  101   a  and  101   c  when the first looping ring is rotated alone the supporting tube  10 . With a rise of the first looping ring  102  along the guide groove  101  of the supporting tube  10 , the second inner tube  20  that is coupled to the connecting rib  102   a  is lifted up together. As a result, the first inner tube  30  contained in the second inner tube  20  is lifted to the same height as that of the second inner tube  20  which is lifted by the first looping ring  102 .  
         [0017]    And when the second looping ring is rotated along the supporting tube, the connecting rib  103   a  locks with the side grooves  101   b  and  101   d,  wherein the side groove  101   b  is recessed from one side of the guide groove  101 , but other side grooves  101   a,    101   c  and  101   d  are formed on the other side of the guide groove  101 . So, when the second looping ring  103   a  rises along the guide groove  101  of the supporting tube, the pushing bar  40  that is coupled to the connecting rib  103   a  is lifted up together.  
         [0018]    When the first looping ring  102  is pushed up from the side groove  101   c  of the supporting tube  10  to lock in the side groove  101   a.  the second inner tube  20  in the supporting tube  10  and the first inner tube  30  contained in the second inner tube  20  are lifted together to the same height. Then, the second looping ring  103  is rotated to free the connecting rib  103   a  from the side groove  101   d,  while the pushing bar that is coupled to the connecting rib  103   a  is also rotated, such that the holding part above the pushing bar  40  is held at the bottom edge of the first inner tube  30  that has been lifted up. Next, the second looping ring  103  is pushed from the side groove  101   d  to lock in the side groove  101   b,  so that the first inner tube  30  is held by the pushing bar  40  and lifted with the second looping ring  103  to the same height.  
         [0019]    For the first inner tube  30  described above, a projecting edge  303  is formed on one side of its outer tube wall, whereas a groove  201   a  is formed on the corresponding edge of the guide hole  201  in the second inner tube  20  that encases the first inner tube  30 , such that the first inner tube  30  is prevented from rotating in the second inner tube  20  when the projecting edge  303  is locked in the groove  201   a.  And respectively, the pushing parts of the first inner tube  30  and second inner tube  20  form arc-shaped holding bodies  302  and  202  which touch on the canopy  50  folded in sequence when the first inner tube  30  and second inner tube  20  are packed up. But, when the first looping ring  102  and the second looping ring  103  are rotated to rise up along the supporting tube  10 , the holding bodies  302  and  202  can hold up the canopies  504  and  502  in an extended state as illustrated in FIG. 1.  
         [0020]    Referring to FIG. 1, a plurality of fastening bases  105  are formed symmetrically on the pushing part of the supporting tube  10 , for fastening to a plurality of first supporting frames  60  fixed on a periphery of the canopy. The other ends of the plurality of first supporting frames  60  are then fastened to second supporting frames  70  that can be flipped and folded upwards, wherein through holes  601  and  701  of the first supporting frames  60  and second supporting frames  70  are formed on the edges that connect to the canopies  501 ,  502 ,  503 , and  504 , such that the canopies  501 ,  502 ,  503 , and  504  are fixed via the through, holes  601  and  701  to the first supporting tube  60  and the second supporting tube  70 , so as to generate a partial haulage-extended action for the canopy  50 . And supporting tubes  51  are formed on a periphery of the canopies  505  and  506 , such that sidewise forces are generated towards outside for the periphery of the canopy  50 , allowing the canopy to fully extend more conveniently during landing.  
         [0021]    A ball-shaped shielding body  106  is formed on the pushing end of the supporting tube  10 , wherein a plurality of through holes  106   a  are formed on parts of the ball-shaped shielding body that correspond to fastening ropes  80  transversely bound to canopy  50 . Each of the through holes  106   a  allow one end of each fastening ropes  80  to penetrate and be fixed within the shielding body  106 , so that each fastening rope  80  can transmit a buffering force generated after the canopy  50  is maneuvered against air current resistance to act on the supporting tube  10 . And a fastening hoop  107  to buckle on a circumferential belt worn by an escaper. As a result, with the buffering force generated with the canopy, the escaper can land to the ground slowly from a high area, so as to achieve a safe use during an emergency escape.  
         [0022]    Referring to both FIGS. 4 and 5, when the parachute needs to be packed up from the previous extended state, the first looping ring  102  and the second looping ring  13  are rotated to be released from locking positions of the side grooves  101   a  and  101   b.  After that, the second looping ring  103  and the first looping ring  102  are slid down to lock in the side grooves  101   d  and  101   c,  such that the pushing part  401  of the pushing bar  40  that is coupled to the connecting rib  103   a  matches the opening  301   a  at the bottom of the first inner tube  30  when the connecting rib  103   a  of the second looping ring  103  is locked in the side groove  101   d.  As a result, the pushing bar  40  does not push against the bottom edge of the first inner tube  30 , and the pushing part  401  of the pushing bar  40  is inserted in the guide groove  301  of the first inner tube  30 , so that the first inner tube  30  may be slid down and retracted to the second inert tube  20 , where the first inner tube  30  is contained. And when the first looping ring  102  is rotated and slid down to lock in the side groove  103   c,  the connecting rib  102   a  that is fixed to the second inner tube  20  is slid down together with the second inner tube  20  and the first inner tube  30 , all of which are then retracted to the supporting tube  10 .  
         [0023]    While the first inner tube  30  and the second inner tube  20  are withdrawn to the supporting tube  10 , each of the held-up canopy  50  drops down to fold together (the canopy is not shown in FIG. 5 for illustrating a better view). And adhesive tapes  90  are formed on the canopies  506  and  505  that are not pushed up by the first inner tube  30  and the second inner tube  20  as well as the canopy  504  that is pushed up by the first inner tube  30 , so as to enable adhesion of the canopies  504 ,  505 , and  506  in order to prevent sideway tilting.  
         [0024]    After the canopy  50  drops down and folds together, the first supporting frame  60  and the second supporting file  70  that are coupled to the periphery of the canopy  50  lose a pulling force of the fastening rope  80 . This causes bending of the supporting frames  60  and  70 , both of which are then packed up as a bundle to the side of the supporting tube  10 . This greatly reduces volume of the whole parachute, making the parachute easier to store and more portable with wider application elsewhere.  
         [0025]    The invention has been described using exemplary preferred embodiments. However, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements. The scope of the claims, therefore, should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.