Lower nest structure of collapsible umbrella

A lower nest structure for a collapsible umbrella is provided, which contains a tubular member and a body member. The tubular member is sleeved over the central shaft and contains a tubular section and an operation knob. A pair of guiding holes and a pair of wedges located below the guiding holes are interleaved around the tubular section. The body member has a ring section to sleeve over the tubular section of the tubular member. The ring section is confined by the bottom surfaces of the wedges and the operation knob. A pair of opposing hook elements is configured on top of the ring section which could be flexibly expanded outward, causing a force to clasp inward. On the top ends of the hook elements, reversed hooks are configured to penetrate through the guiding holes of the tubular member and into the positioning holes of the central shaft for fixedly positioning the lower nest. When the tubular member is pulled downward, the reversed hooks would be relieved from the positioning holes so that the lower nest could slide downward to close the umbrella.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to collapsible umbrellas and, more particularly, to the lower nest structure of collapsible umbrellas for opening and closing collapsible umbrellas.

(b) Description of the Prior Art

Conventionally, a collapsible umbrella contains a central shaft, an upper nest fixedly attached to a top end of the central shaft, a lower nest sliding along the central shaft, and a rib structure whose ribs are connected to both the upper and lower nests. As such, pushing or pulling the lower nest up or down would force the ribs of the rib structure to expand or retract and the collapsible umbrella is thereby opened or closed.

To maintain the umbrella in an open configuration, a positioning mechanism must be supplied to prevent the lower nest from sliding downward.

A conventional positioning mechanism is a resilient stopper extended from the inside of the central shaft. When the umbrella is open, the stopper is beneath the lower rest to prevent it from moving downward. To close the umbrella, the stopper is pressed into the central shaft so that the lower nest could pass the stopper and slide downward.

Using the resilient stopper as a positioning mechanism for the lower nest has a number of disadvantages. First, the resilient stopper is configured inside and extends out of the central shaft. The installation of the resilient stopper is not quite convenient. Secondly, the resilient stopper is usually configured as a blade. It is quite uncomfortable for a user to operate the resilient stopper to close the umbrella. Thirdly and most importantly, when the resilient stopper is pressed to make way for the lower nest, the lower nest would drop very quickly due to the retraction force of the rib structure, a user could easily get hurt if his or her finger is trapped between the resilient stopper and the lower nest.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a collapsible umbrella, which allows the user to operate the lower nest easily and quickly. When the lower nest is pushed upward to an appropriate position, the umbrella is locked in an open configuration. In addition, when the lower nest is pulled downward, the locking is relieved and the umbrella is closed simultaneously.

The lower nest structure of the present invention contains a tubular member and a body member. The tubular member is sleeved over the central shaft of an umbrella and is able to move up and down along the central shaft. The tubular member contains a tubular section and an operation knob attached to the bottom of the tubular section. A pair of guiding holes and a pair of wedges located below the guiding holes are interleaved around the tubular section to that the two pairs are orthogonal to each other. The guiding holes have a sloped upper edge slanting downward towards the central shaft. The wedges have a protruding bottom surface. The operation knob has a larger diameter and forms a flange. The body member has a ring section to sleeve over the tubular section of the tubular member. The ring section is confined by the bottom surfaces of the wedges and the flange of the operation knob. The height or thickness of the ring section is substantially smaller than the distance between the bottom surfaces of the wedges and the flange of the operation knob, leaving a gap therebetween. A pair of opposing hook elements is configured on top of the ring section which could be flexibly expanded outward, causing a force to clasp inward. On the top ends of the hook elements, reversed hooks are configured to penetrate through the guiding holes of the tubular member and into the positioning holes of the central shaft. The reversed hooks have a sloped surface slanting downward towards the central shaft. When the tubular member along with the body member is pushed upward to an appropriate position, the reversed hooks would penetrate through the guiding holes and into the positioning holes of central shaft and, thereby, the lower nest is fixedly locked to the position. When the tubular member is pulled downward, the sloped upper edges of the guiding holes would lift the reversed hooks out of the positioning holes so that the lower nest could slide downward to close the umbrella. As such, during the umbrella opening and closing operations, a user wouldn't get hurt as the user's fingers never touch the locking mechanism provided by the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As illustrated inFIGS. 1 to 5, the present invention is applicable to a conventionally structured umbrella, which contains a central shaft1, an upper nest2fixedly configured at a top end of the central shaft1, and a rib structure3whose ribs are connected to both the upper nest2and a body member5of the lower nest A.

The lower nest structure of the present invention is especially appropriate for a multiple-fold collapsible umbrella as shown inFIG. 1. The central shaft1is a telescoping one having four sections with the bottommost section11having a smallest diameter and the topmost section12having a largest diameter. The upper nest2is fixedly attached to the top end of the topmost section12, while a handle13is configured at the bottom end of the bottommost section11. The ribs of the rib structure3have multiple folds and the number of folds is identical to the number of sections of the central shaft1.

The major characteristic of the present invention is that the lower nest A contains a body member5and a tubular member4, and the topmost section12of the central shaft1has a pair of positioning holes14opposite to each other for locking the lower nest A to maintain the umbrella in an open configuration.

The tubular member4is sleeved over the central shaft1and could move up and down along the central shaft1. The tubular member4contains a tubular section41and an operation knob42configured at the bottom of the tubular section41. A pair of guiding holes411are configured on the tubular wall of the tubular section41, opposing to each other. The guiding holes411have a sloped upper edge412slanting downward towards the central shaft1. Another pair of opposing wedges413is also configured below the guiding holes411on the tubular wall of the tubular section41. The wedges413have a sloped surface415slanting upward towards the central shaft1from a bottom surface414. The pair of the wedges413and the pair of the guiding holes411are configured so that they are interleaved and orthogonal to each other.

The operation knob42has a larger diameter than that of the tubular section41so that a flange421is formed to support a ring section51of the body member5. Around the circumference of the operation knob42, a curved surface422is configured to facilitate a user's operation by his or her fingers6.

The ring section51of the body member5is sleeved over the tubular section41of the tubular member4and is confined by the bottom surfaces414of the wedges413and the flange421of the operation knob42. The height or thickness of the ring section51is substantially smaller than the distance between the bottom surfaces414of the wedges413and the flange421of the operation knob42, thereby leaving a gap d therebetween. As such, the ring section51is able to move up and down between the bottom surfaces414and the flange421. When the tubular member4is pulled downward to close the umbrella, within the spacing d, the sloped upper edges412of the guiding holes411lift and expand the hook elements53of the body member5to relieve the locking of the hook elements53to the positioning holes14, and then the tubular member4drags the body member5along with it when moving downward. More details will be given later.

To assemble, the ring section51of the body member5is sleeved over the tubular section41of the tubular member4until it passes over the wedges413, which is facilitated by the sloped surfaces415of the wedges413.

Around the ring section51of the body member5, a number of rib slots52are configured for joining with the ribs of the rib structure3. On top of the ring section51, a pair of hook elements53is configured, opposing to each other. The hook elements53are configured such that the reversed hooks54at the top ends of the hook elements53are roughly corresponding to the guiding holes411of the tubular member4, and the reversed hooks54are able to penetrate through the guiding holes411. The reversed hooks54of the hook elements53could be flexibly expanded outward and, in the mean time, the hook elements53would exert a force on the reversed hooks54to clasp inward. The reversed hooks54have a sloped surface56slanting downward towards the central shaft1. The tip of the sloped surface56is a flat surface55which could cling to the bottom edge416of the guiding hole411. When the tubular member4is pulled downward to close the umbrella, the sloped upper edges412of the guiding holes411would lift the sloped surfaces56of the reversed hooks54so that the reversed hooks54are expanded outward.

Please refer toFIGS. 4 and 5. When opening the umbrella, a user uses his or her fingers6to hold the operation knob42and pushes the tubular member4upward along the central shaft1. As the ring section51of the body member5is resting on the flange421of the operation knob42and, therefore, the body member5is slid upward as well (as shown inFIG. 4). Since the ribs of the rib structure3are joined to the ring section51of the body member5, the ribs are also pushed upward to open the umbrella. When the body member5reaches an appropriate position, the reversed hooks54would penetrate through the guiding holes411into the positioning holes14of the central shaft1(as shown inFIG. 5). The body member5is therefore fixed at that position and the umbrella is maintained in an open configuration.

As shown inFIGS. 6˜9, to close the umbrella, a user uses his or her fingers6to hold the operation knob42and pulls the tubular member4downward. First, within the gap d, the sloped upper edges412of the guiding holes411lift the sloped surfaces56of the reversed hooks54and, thereby, the reversed hooks54are relieved from the positioning holes14(as shown inFIGS. 6 and 8). Then, when the tubular member4is pulled past the gap d, the bottom surfaces414of the wedges413would press against the top surface of the ring section51. The tubular member4therefore drags the body member5along with it so as to close the umbrella.