UMBRELLA MOUNT FOR A VEHICLE HITCH

An umbrella mount apparatus for mounting an umbrella to a vehicle hitch includes a hitch beam sized and configured to be received into a receiver tube of the vehicle hitch. The hitch beam has a hole extending therethrough near a first end of the hitch beam. The hole is positioned and configured to mount to the receiver tube via a hitch pin. An umbrella-holding tube is coupled to the hitch beam at a second end of the hitch beam opposite the first end. The umbrella-holding tube defines a channel sized and configured for receiving a shaft of an umbrella therethrough. The channel has an open top end and an open bottom end. A retainer is configured to be operable to secure the shaft of the umbrella in a desired position in the umbrella-holding tube.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to umbrella mounts and more particularly pertains to a new umbrella mount for mounting an umbrella to a vehicle hitch.

When tailgating, camping, or the like, it may be desirable to mount an umbrella to the hitch of a vehicle to provide protection from weather such as sunshine, rain, or the like. Various mounting apparatuses are available for mounting an umbrella in this manner. However, the prior art fails to describe such an apparatus which includes an umbrella-holding tube with open top and bottom ends. Such an apparatus allows for positioning the umbrella along a greater range of positions than extant devices, including facilitating resting the umbrella on a support surface below the device.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a hitch beam sized and configured to be received into a receiver tube of a hitch of a vehicle. The hitch beam has a hole extending therethrough near a first end of the hitch beam. The hole is positioned and configured to mount to the receiver tube via a hitch pin. An umbrella-holding tube is coupled to the hitch beam at a second end of the hitch beam opposite the first end. The umbrella-holding tube defines a channel sized and configured for receiving a shaft of an umbrella therethrough. The channel has an open top end and an open bottom end. A retainer is configured to be operable to secure the shaft of the umbrella in a desired position in the umbrella-holding tube.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 8 thereof, a new umbrella mount embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 8, the umbrella mount apparatus 10 generally comprises a hitch beam 12 sized and configured to be received into a receiver tube 40 of a hitch 38 of a vehicle 36. The hitch beam 12 has a hole 14 which extends therethrough near a first end 16 of the hitch beam 12. The hole 14 is positioned and configured to mount to the receiver tube 40 via a hitch pin 42. The hitch pin 42 may be secured in the hole 14 of the hitch beam 12 and to the receiver tube 40 via a hairpin 44, a cotter pin, or the like. An umbrella-holding tube 20 is coupled to the hitch beam 12 at a second end 18 of the hitch beam 12 opposite the first end 16. The umbrella-holding tube 20 defines a channel 22 sized and configured for receiving a shaft 48 of an umbrella 46 therethrough. The channel 22 has an open top end 24 and an open bottom end 26, which allows the shaft 48 of the umbrella 46 to extend completely through the channel 22.

A pair of retainers 28 is configured to be operable to secure the shaft 48 of the umbrella 46 in a desired position in the umbrella-holding tube 20. Each retainer 28 of the pair of retainers 28 comprises a threaded receiver 30, a set screw 32, and a handle 34. The threaded receiver 30 of each retainer 28 is mounted to the umbrella-holding tube 20. The threaded receivers 30 of the pair of retainers 28 are spaced from each other in a longitudinal direction of the umbrella-holding tube 20. The set screw 32 is engageable with the threaded receiver 30 via rotation therein to move the set screw 32 alternately into and out of the channel 22 of the umbrella-holding tube 20. The handle 34 is mounted to the set screw 32. The handle 34 has an elongated shape and is oriented parallel to and offset from a center axis of the set screw 32. The elongated shape is cylindrical but may have other shapes. For example, the elongated shape may be an elongated square prism, an elongated hexagonal prism, or the like. In other embodiments, the retainers 28 may comprise other types of clamps, threaded fasteners, latches, or the like.

In use, the hitch beam 12 is secured to the receiver tube 40 of the hitch 38 via the hitch pin 42. The shaft 48 of the umbrella 46 is inserted into the umbrella-holding tube 20 and is positioned at the desired position. The shaft 48 may extend completely through the channel 22 of the umbrella-holding tube 20 and rest atop a support surface 50 such as the ground. The support surface 50 may be the only support holding the umbrella 46 up, with the umbrella-holding tube 20 serving only to orient the shaft 48 of the umbrella 46, thereby preventing the umbrella 46 from tipping over. Or the shaft 48 may rest atop the support surface 50 and the retainers 28 may be engaged to secure the shaft 48 to the umbrella-holding tube 20, thereby supporting the hitch beam 12 in part via the umbrella 46.

In yet other uses, the desired position of the shaft 48 may be above the support surface 50, and the umbrella 46 may be held in the desired position via the retainers 28 only. To secure the shaft 48 of the umbrella 46 to the umbrella-holding tube 20 via the retainers 28, the set screw 32 of each retainer 28 may be screwed through the associated threaded receiver 30 by grasping the associated handle 34 and rotating the set screw 32 with respect to the associated threaded receiver 30. The handles 34 are oriented parallel to the respective set screws 32 to facilitate the handles 34 rotating within a hand when the hand grasps one of the handles 34. The threaded fasteners are spaced from each other in the longitudinal direction of the umbrella-holding tube 20 to align a central longitudinal axis of the shaft 48 of the umbrella 46 with a central longitudinal axis of the umbrella-holding tube 20. This is especially helpful in the event the shaft 48 is substantially thinner than the channel 22 of the umbrella-holding tube 20.